Boaters

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT BOATERS

Ahoy! The Fourth of July falls midweek this year, on a Wednesday, which might help to lighten the crowds on the waterways. The Fourth is known as one of the busiest boating times of the year on our waterways across the country. Whenever the weather is picture perfect on Independence Day, the numbers increase and boating organizations, harbor patrols and the Coast Guard remind boaters to boat safely and be courteous to fellow boaters. However, in Orange County's three harbors, there will be annual events for boaters and landlubbers.

For the second time in a month, sailboat crew members have died while racing off the California coast. Two weeks ago, five died when their 38-foot boat was swamped by two waves near the Farallon Islands, 27 miles from San Francisco. And now, four crew members are believed to have been killed when their 37-foot-boat disappeared Saturday on a race between Newport Beach and Ensenada, Mexico. The regatta sponsors believe the sailboat collided with a "much larger vessel" although theU.S.

Mariners used to toss a wooden log overboard, and while its line spooled out, they would count each of the knots that passed through their hands. After 28 seconds, they recorded their boat's speed in knots, or nautical miles per hour. Today, 200 years later, boaters look at their digital instrument panel and still see their speed in knots. That tradition was nearly subverted when the Newport Beach Harbor Commission voted in April to change the city's municipal code to measure speed in miles per hour, a slightly slower measure than knots.

Boaters already dodge large entertaining yachts cruising through Newport Harbor, and come Friday they will have an additional obstacle: tugboats hauling massive barges full of dirt from the Rhine Channel. The city will begin scooping out generations of industrial waste that has settled in the underwater area near Cannery Village. Once the $4-million project is complete, about 150,000 cubic yards of contaminated sediment should be moved from the waterway to the Port of Long Beach.

NEWPORT BEACH — When driving down Newport Boulevard toward Lido Marina Village, the bright white finish off hundreds of yachts beckons for a closer look. If you're up for getting a glimpse at how accommodating life on the water can be, or you have a few hundred thousand dollars to spare, the 38th annual Newport Boat Show is worth a visit. The show opened Thursday and runs through Sunday. From trawlers to tugboats and mega-yachts, the show is where attendees will likely find what you're looking for, even if it's boaters insurance or a new deck finish.

NEWPORT BEACH — The city is creating a special permitting process to allow sail and crew racers to exceed the harbor's 5-knot speed limit. Five knots equals 5 nautical miles per hour, or an approximate speed of 5.75 mph. After years of discussion and various proposals, the Harbor Commission, Orange County Sheriff's Department's Harbor Patrol, boating organizations and city officials appear to have agreed on a concept. It would allow groups such as yacht clubs and collegiate associations to apply for a permit before a given regatta — both for sailboats and crew boats — and any practices leading up to the races.

The U.S. military was said to be "evaluating the options" regarding a possible rescue of a former Newport Beach couple and two other Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates. A military source told CNN that a U.S. Navy warship and helicopters were trailing a boat believed to be the hijacked yacht. On Friday, a distress signal was sent by a yacht from the middle of the Indian Ocean, according to AFP, the French news agency. The hijacking was first reported by Ecoterra International, which monitors regional maritime activity.

Newport Beach police are reminding sailors to keep their expensive equipment secured following a string of boat burglaries in the last two months. Police responded to five boat burglaries in November and six in December, said Sgt. Steve Burdette. The thieves are stealing high-priced fishing equipment, Burdette said. Daily Pilot boating columnist Len Bose said that, in one incident, a person had nearly two dozen fishing reels and a portable tackle center taken. —Joseph Serna

As Newport Beach's Cannery Village changed from an industrial pocket of shipbuilding and canneries into a residential, entertainment and marine business hub, one thing always was missing: a public dock for small boats. Now that the city has completed the renovation of a wooden wharf and installed a 100-foot guest dock, boaters can tie up for a short time and visit friends, shop at stores and dine at nearby restaurants. It will be especially useful as the city contemplates a "revitalization" of the surrounding areas of Lido Marina Village and the existing City Hall site, potentially to include more restaurants and shops.

NEWPORT BEACH — Paying $55,000 for a mooring in Newport Harbor seemed reasonable to Dan Gribble. It's what everyone does, he figured. A longtime owner of a local boatyard, Gribble's no novice to maritime business. But he may have made a serious miscalculation. More than three years since an Orange County Grand Jury found that Newport Harbor boaters were essentially buying and selling public moorings, the city is taking steps to curb the practice. City officials want to prohibit private transfers of moorings and to raise the fees the city charges mooring holders.